Date: 1 August 2025

The demand for expatriate Bangladeshis’ voting rights is one of the long-standing campaigns by the Bangladeshi communities in the UK which has been gaining momentum since the political changes in Bangladesh in August 2024.

The Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees the right to vote as a fundamental right. Article 11 of the Constitution of Bangladesh clearly stipulated that “the Republic shall be a democracy” as one of the fundamental principles of state policy, and the Constitution outlines the principles of democracy and the electoral system. Article 118 of the Constitution of Bangladesh provides provision for establishment of an Election Commission for Bangladesh (EC) and Article 119 of the Constitution empowers the EC for the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for election to the office of the president and to the parliament, and the conduct of such elections in accordance with the C onstitution.

The Representation of the People Order, 1972 (President Order No. 155 of 1972) allows Bangladeshi expatriates to vote in their respective constituencies in the national parliamentary elections. Article 27(1)(c) of the President’s Order stipulated that “a Bangladeshi voter living abroad” may cast their votes by postal ballot in such manner as prescribed by the Order. However, despite these applicable legal provisions, the expatriate Bangladeshis have been deprived of their voting rights for the past 53 years. In his address to the nation on Victory Day in 2024, the Chief Adviser of the interim government Dr Muhammad Yunus said, “False promises had been made repeatedly in the past. This time, our government will ensure voting rights for expatriates for the first time.”

The writer of this piece was invited on 15th July 2025 to attend a round table meeting organised by ‘Expatriate Voting Rights Implementation Council (Probashi Votadhikar Bastobaion Parishad), a newly set up platform by a group of British Bangladeshi professionals and community leaders with the aim to press the demand for a road map for the implementation of voting rights for expatriate Bangladeshis living around the world. He took the opportunity to politely remind the organiser that British Bangladeshi community leaders and civil society organisations had been campaigning for implementation of this cause for many decades. It was imperative to appreciate everyone’s contributions and build a broad-based coalition of activists and campaigners:” This is a non-partisan demand, therefore it must be addressed and campaigned from a neutral perspective.”

It is estimated that 15.5 million Bangladeshis are living abroad which “make up around 7.5% of the country’s population and 10% of its voters.” British Bangladeshis are one of the largest ethnic minority groups in the UK, with a population of 652,535 in 2021, representing just under 1% of the total population. Ninety percent of British Bangladeshis trace their origins to the Sylhet region (the North-Eastern part of Bangladesh bordering India’s states of Meghalaya, Assam, and Tripura).

Expatriate Bangladeshis are making immense contributions to Bangladesh and its economy by sending remittance. According to the government in 2023, expatriate Bangladeshis sent a total of $21.9 billion via official remittance channels. It is reported that in 2024–25, Bangladesh’s remittances reached a record $30.04 billion, representing a 25.50% increase from the previous year [1]. Bangladesh was the 7th highest recipient of remittances in the world with almost $22.1 billion in 2021 and was the third highest recipient of remittances in South Asia, according to the World Bank [2].

This statistic is significant and speaks for itself, therefore, the demands for expatriate Bangladeshis’ voting rights is not just legitimate but a necessary one as it will encourage diaspora communities to actively take part in the country’s socio-economic development and political decision making by electing members of Parliament in their respective constituencies in the national parliamentary elections.

On 10 July 2025, EC Brig Gen (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah announced that expatriate Bangladeshis would be able to cast their votes through the “postal ballot” system in the upcoming parliamentary election: “the final decision was made over the votes of expatriate Bangladeshis. Inshallah the expatriates will vote this time. The voting system will be the postal balloting,”

This is a significant step towards the initial success of the campaign, and this decision is greatly welcomed by activists and campaigners, but its implementation and related practical steps based on solid legal framework remain an issue that should be addressed before expatriate Bangladeshis can exercise their democratic franchise in the upcoming parliamentary election. The meeting of the ‘Expatriate Voting Rights Implementation Council’ referred to earlier was organised after the EC’s announcement. On that occasion, the writer also proposed that steps be taken to bring together personalities/campaigners and leadership of relevant expatriate initiatives under a unified platform to press for the realisation of this “popular demand” in a sustained, systematic, and unified way. The need now is to go beyond past practice of a few Town Hall exchanges or delegations calling on dignitaries that end up with photo sessions and issue of press releases.

Let us focus on the implementation of expatriate voting rights rather than who is organising or leading the show. All activities should be goal oriented, and British Bangladeshi communities as a whole should be get involved and pave the way for a successful campaign and make it a popular demand. In this regard, local British Bangladeshi print and electronic media can play an important role towards this objective.

In addition to this central issue of voting rights, British Bangladeshi communities have other concerns relating to air travel, visa fees, security of investments and dual nationality that will be taken up in a subsequent blog, insha Allah. This author believes the legitimate demands of expatriate Bangladeshis can be resolved if there is a political will.

[1] Source: Fairobserver.com Remittance Inflow in Bangladesh: From Record Highs to Future Challenges

[2] Source: The Daily Star https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/news/bangladesh-7th-highest-remittance-recipient-wb-3022611

For year wise remittance flow from the UK by non-resident Bangladeshis see also website of the Bangladesh High Commission https://bhclondon.org.uk/remittance-non-resident-bangladeshis

Khaled Noor, 1 August 2025, London

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